I was so sure of myself. I had sent my new drone high into the sky. I had flown through tree branches. On the last day of my Christmas vacation at my mom’s house in the Bay Area, I decided to try a few ideas I had. I was going to fly it through my mom’s house for the ultimate home movie. I was going to take it for a walk around the neighborhood where I played as a child.

But seconds into my test flight to check the batteries, I clipped the clothesline. The drone flipped over. The camera was having spasms. So of course I tried it again. But there was a little damage to one of the blades… so… uh… yeah, the next two flights didn’t go well.